International Circuit
GSMA sees strong momentum for future MWC events
Industry trade group GSMA added a year to its plans for hosting the annual MWC Barcelona event in that city, which comes in the wake of this year’s event being cancelled at the last minute due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
Both parties explained that they continue to see “strong momentum to maintain and extend MWC Barcelona into the future and have agreed to hold the MWC event through 2024.” GSMA had previously signed a 5-year extension with Barcelona in 2015 that hitched the event to that city through 2023.
The GSMA cancelled this year’s event on Feb. 12, which was just two weeks before it was set to begin. The move came after a number of the event’s larger exhibitors announced that they were not going to attend due to coronavirus concerns.
This year’s event would have been Barcelona’s 15th consecutive year hosting the trade show, and the cancellation has been estimated to have cost the city about $500 million in economic activity. The show was expected to meet or exceed the 109,000 attendees it hosted at last year’s event.
“By extending through 2024, we are demonstrating our commitment to our ecosystem as well as the Host City Parties and our strong and mutually beneficial working relationship,” said GSMA CEO John Hoffman in a statement. “We are pleased to report that we have had tremendous support and early commitment with many exhibitors for future editions.”
The Catalan government where Barcelona is located this week reported that nearly 7,100 people in that region have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak began.
GSMA MWC Show Plans Roll On
The GSMA last month rolled out a compensation package for vendors and attendees that paid for this year’s event. That package was tilted at ensuring the event would continue despite the one-year hiatus.
Individual attendees will receive a full refund on their tickets through their original payment method. Exhibitors are being financially encouraged to roll over their fees to future events. The compensation structure also protects what is GSMA’s main source of income for this year and starts to solidify future show plans.
“It is a recognition that, without attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors, there wouldn’t be MWC Barcelona,” the organization noted in a statement. “The GSMA thanks its colleagues in the industry for their continued support. The approach seeks to ensure a long-term relationship with the whole MWC ecosystem for the years to come and has been created to give everyone the best possible opportunity to return for MWC Barcelona 2021.”
The GSMA still remains on track to host its annual MWC Los Angeles event starting Oct. 28. The organization has not yet added any COVID-19 related addendums to those plans. However, California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week said he does not expect large gatherings to be allowed in that state until a virus vaccine is available.
“The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine,” Newsom said at a press conference, according to The Mercury News. “So large-scale events that bring in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strangers altogether across every conceivable difference, health and otherwise, is not in the cards based upon our current guidelines and current expectations.”
The GSMA in a statement to SDxCentral said it “remains mindful of the evolving circumstances of COVID-19 and respects that health officials, politicians, and other authorities are dealing with immediate and long term health and safety considerations as we all get emergent data to consider. In the lead up to MWC Barcelona 2020, we regularly sought the advice of these authorities and will continue to do so as health and safety remain our top priority. For now, we are very much looking forward to MWC LA and will respond swiftly to any further government orders concerning upcoming large events.”
―SDX Central
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